


Quarantine

by Hadithi



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: COVID, Corona Virus - Freeform, F/M, about the pandemic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hadithi/pseuds/Hadithi
Summary: Six short drabbles about Steven and Connie coping with the pandemic and quarantine.Inspired by the lovely fanficsurfer!
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 33
Kudos: 125





	1. Chapter 1

The pandemic wasn’t good for anyone, but there were some who had it worse. Anyone who worked in medicine was struggling, and though Steven had his own problems trying to understand a lot of things about diseases and sickness, Connie’s worry about her mother was understandable enough. This sickness spread through touch, through the air, and the closer you were to sick people the more likely you were to get it. The more sick people you met, the more likely you were to get it.

Everything about Dr. Maheswaran’s job was risky. Her hours had gone longer and longer, so Connie saw her mother less and worried about her mother more. At the beginning, she had tried to deal by avoiding the news. After all, her mom brought home plenty of it, why trouble herself with even more?

But fear got the best of her in the end. It wasn’t long before Steven found her refreshing cases multiple times a day, scouring the internet for data, and leaving the cable news running on any TV that happened to be around. Her home, the rare times they got to see each other nowadays, was a constant buzz of pandemic news.

“Maybe you should take a break from all this stuff,” Steven said softly from beside her on the couch. “It seems like you’re freaking yourself out.”

“I can’t.” 

Connie chewed on her thumbnail as her knees curled up to her chest, her eyes glued to the newscaster on the television. He was going to push for more, but she answered all on her own: “I see Mom even less than ever before. She’s always at the hospital and whenever she’s home she tries to self-isolate. I don’t even know the last time we stood closer than six feet.”

He rubbed her back, putting all the comfort he could manage into all his words. “She doesn’t need to do that. I could just heal-”

“She’s not gonna gamble it, Steven,” she interrupted, and her eyes were bloodshot from staying up late and worrying. “Yeah, your healing almost always works, but sometimes it fails. She won’t risk it.”

“But I could still try,” he pushed.

Connie closed her eyes, her face wrinkling up with frustration. “I already asked her about it, okay? She said no. So just… let it go.”

He stayed by her side as best he could. He distracted her from her worries, and she distracted him from his. Eventually, as time ticked on, their worries faded down into background noise. Months had passed, and the pandemic slowly became their new normal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie and Steven talk about masks.

“I’m not gonna take it off, I promise,” Steven began as he adjusted the blue disposable mask on his face. It was the last one in the box Connie had given him, as too many of the others had worn down from overuse. He was trying to find some position on his face that left him fully covered while mitigating the itchiness, but no such luck.

It was his fault, though. He should have known better than to leave it somewhere Lion could sleep on it. But he had, and now he paid the price of his last mask covered in short, scratchy pink fur. He hadn’t realized how much worse Lion fur would be over his nose than the usual coating on his shirt and pants.

“I don’t don’t get why I have to wear it if I can’t get sick?” he muttered.

Connie laughed behind her own mask. Always prepared, Connie had ordered half a dozen masks of Bluebubble, and the one she was wearing now was a daring looking black and red. It was modeled after what Lisa wore in the mines, and he could only stare longingly as he wished he had done the same.

“You can swap for something less Lion-y at my house,” Connie promised. “But the mask isn’t just about  _ your _ safety - it’s about everyone else’s too. We don’t know what your magic does to viruses, Steven. Just because you don’t have symptoms doesn’t mean you don’t have it.”

He pouted, through his puppy dog eyes were far weaker without the rest of his face to compliment it. “Why does magic have to make everything so hard?”

“It’s like that for humans too,” Connie shrugged and gestured her hands vaguely as she explained. “Viruses, bacteria, even genetics - sometimes you’re a carrier with no symptoms. That’s why  _ everyone _ has to wear a mask - even superheroes like you.”

He sighed begrudgingly, but a little bit of discomfort on his end wasn’t going to keep him from risking anyone else’s safety. He resolved to buy some better-looking masks soon - ones he could wash, and ones he would keep far, far away from Lion’s fuzzy body.

His hand slid into hers and he tried to make sure he was smiling with his eyes. “Can I borrow one of your cute masks until I get some of my own?”

She giggled and squeezed his hand tight. “Of course, silly. Anything to keep you safe.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaa my stupid browser didn't upload the chapter ontime. well, one day off!

Pandemic life was weird, to say the least. She had never been the most social or outgoing person, so she had assumed that the quarantine measures wouldn’t bother her too much. She would stay home, which she loved. She would stay inside, which she loved. And, heck, Pearl couldn’t even  _ get _ sick so their private sword training sessions could continue (though Connie still wore a mask during them).

She had never expected that social distancing would grow so severe that she would  _ want _ to return to school, and yet four months into quarantine all she could think was how desperately she wished she could be in a classroom instead of watching her teacher fumble with video chat yet again.

On the flip side, Steven had never been to school, but he hadn’t expected the boardwalk to shut down so thoroughly - no tourists meant no business, and everyone closed up shop for most of the day. He had thought that would be fine - just more time to focus on his own hobbies.

And video games! Steven had never thought he could have too much free time for video games, but as he collected the 900th korok seed and 100% completed Breath of the Wild, he could only stare in horror at the number of hours on his save file and whisper, “Why did I do this?” before reluctantly moving to a new save slot and starting the game over again.

Neither of them had ever imagined Pearl could be more of a neat-freak, and yet there they were - they stared vacantly into the middle distance as she rubbed hand sanitizer from their fingertips to their elbows because it was so much easier to just let her get it over with than to protest they could clean themselves just fine. Even Amethyst took an interest in hygiene and kept a close eye to make sure they were washing their hands.

Several months in, Connie found herself doing the unthinkable: “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she mumbled to herself as she opened up the chat client. “I promised I would never be this person again.”

And yet, there she was, joining Steven in a Warrior Cats RP server because there were hours and hours of nothing to do all day, and she could think of nothing else to do with her life other than resurrect Nightpelt - her OC from when she was twelve, and assist Steven in making his own. She returned to the darkness - a warrior cat text roleplayer once more.

Everything was just so surreal, and yet every day that passed just made it more normal. Stay inside. Stay clean. Avoid people. It was so simple, and yet, somehow, it pervaded every aspect of their lives. Slowly, the changes to the world and themselves were nothing to comment on at all. Of course you held your breath around someone not wearing a mask. Of course you stayed as far from people as you could. Of course you washed your hands every time you left or returned to the house.

“We need to find ways of not going crazy,” Connie muttered into her webcam. “I can’t roleplay all day. I’m going to lose my mind. Any ideas?”

Steven hummed. “Maybe a couple.”


	4. Chapter 4

Steven had always been tuned in a bit more to the alien and a bit less to the human, and so came up with a few brilliant non-human ideas to help them stay sane. Connie called them cheats, but she did it with a smile or a laugh so that he never felt like she was anything but grateful for his ways around quarantine.

The big rule was no humans - as long as there was no contact with humankind, the possibilities were endless.

Sometimes they would hop on Lion, and he would take them somewhere wild and lonely and their beautiful little rock. They tried to enjoy the sunshine on a deserted island or the sounds of insects and birds in a jungle or even the icy wind of an empty tundra. It was nice to explore Earth. They’d always enjoyed it.

Of course, they had thought at this point in their lives, their exploration of Earth would involve a lot more cities. A lot more people. But safety was more important than anything, and they had the rest of their lives to explore cities. Really, it was an opportunity.

They spent a lot of time around gems because gems couldn’t get sick, and that helped them keep sane quite a bit. But even then, something felt strange about always being around their alien friends, as if that drew all the more attention that they could never be around their human ones.

There were a lot of video calls with the people they loved, and that helped a lot. They spent lots of time online, finding new fandoms and binge-watching and making fanart and fanfiction as they tried to exist in the strange new world.

Sometimes they left the world entirely, because that was something safe to do.

They stood on the moon base, their fingers skimming across the controls as they searched across the world for places they could only see from afar and never go to. Cities were emptier now. They were still. Everything was on pause and holding its breath as they waited for it all to pass.

“Isn’t it weird?” Connie asked, her hand paused on the orb. The empty streets of Empire City encircled them, barely a car or person walking along the pavement. “We’re safer on planets humans have never been to than on the one where we were born.”

“Only for a little while.”

“I hope so,” she whispered. “We worked so hard to make friends, Steven. I don’t want to lose them.”

He didn’t have words for that. Instead, he hugged her tight and she hugged him back, and they did their best to reassure one another as they stood on the empty moon. With their hands away from the controls, their intentions focused only on one another, the magic faded. The city around them dimmed and they held each other in the dark.


	5. Chapter 5

“You know what I miss the most from before the pandemic?” Connie asked, fiddling with her bowl of grapes. They sat side by side on the couch again, trying to enjoy their time together even as they minimized contact and the whole room smelled of hand sanitizer. “I think it’s movies. Going to the movie theater with my friends.”

“Really? I thought it’d be…” Steven looked surprised, but his voice quickly trailed off as he thought things over. He had thought she would say it would be not seeing her mother as much, but he figured that might have been a little too heavy for the evening. “I guess you mean little things.”

She smiled and nodded, clearly relieved he wasn’t going to get too heavy on her. “Yeah! Little things. I miss movies the most because there’s nothing else like it. I can rollerblade around town, and I can have food delivered and stuff like that is really close to how it used to be, but watching a movie at home just isn’t like going to the theater at all.”

“That’s true.” Steven sighed and thought for a moment. “I think I miss concerts. All the music and all the people and everything is so exciting and…” He sighed longingly, lowering his head. “And I get to go out with all my friends in a big group.”

She ruffled his hair, saying sweetly, “You’ve always been extroverted. This all has to be hitting you especially hard.”

“I mean, gems are great, but I love my human friends,” he said, nodding both to agree and to shake her hand out of his hair. “I miss them a lot. I’m used to going wherever I want and doing whatever I want and always being around loads of people, you know?”

“I know. Me and your dad are the only humans you get to be close to now, huh? Even Lars is keeping off-planet until all this is over.” She looked down at her grapes with a little frown, because things were getting heavy again, as they always did when they tried to talk about this kind of stuff.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Lars says it’s not worth the risk and he’s right. I’m just… I miss him, you know?”

Connie pushed her snack aside and flung her arms around him. She hugged him tight, burying her face in his neck so her words were mumbled and muffled. “I know. I feel it too. It’s not like we’re really alone, but just one or two people around still gets really lonely.”

He nuzzled into her hair. “I miss being able to give people hugs. That’s what I miss the most.”

“On second thought, me too,” she agreed quietly. She kissed his cheek. “We’ll just have to cuddle even more to make up for it, right?”

“Right.”


	6. Chapter 6

Steven had always tried to spread his healing around whenever he could. He had always thought there might be better ways to go about it, but he had never really figured out how to start, and because of it he had mostly stuck to taking care of his loved ones whenever and however he could.

However, not long after the pandemic had arrived in Beach City, he’d done everything he could to help Priyanka and her team figure out his healing spit. They hadn’t had much luck in cloning it - not even with Peridot’s help. He kept providing samples, hoping something might crack, but it never seemed to come.

And, it made sense really. When it came to healing, things got pretty spotty. Steven’s healing depended on his mood, the person he was healing, and who knew what else. Sometimes a kiss could whisk away any illness, even stuff he didn’t realize was an illness, and sometimes it didn’t do a thing - even with the same sickness. Unlike with gems, it was all hit or miss.

When the pandemic started getting worse, Steven had gone down to the hospital and done his best. He healed everyone he could manage. His body started to ache, his head started to swim, but he did his best to pass out a healing kiss to everyone he could find. Virus or no virus, everyone deserved a chance to get better, right?

He was surprised to find himself collapsed and unconscious three days in.

“Your muscles are broken down,” Priyanka told him calmly once he woke up in the hospital bed. “Not in a dying way, but a work-out kind of way. You’ll recover.”

He shook his head, but even that motion made his muscles throb and head spin. “I don’t get it. Am I okay or not?”

“You’re going to be okay. You’re just overworked,” Priyanka explained. She hesitated, then reached out to take his hand. The odd rubber feel of her gloves against his hand was uncomfortable, everything in the hospital covered in a thin layer of hygienic separation. Even her face was mostly covered - a mask over her mouth and protective glasses over her eyes. But she was trying to comfort him nevertheless. “Your magic has limits, and we all appreciate what you’ve done, but you need to rest.”

Steven insisted, “I’m fine. People are-”

“Dying, I know. I’m a doctor, Steven.” Her words were gentle, even as her eyes bore firmly into his and left no room for argument. “I know better than anyone how much it hurts to take a break when lives are on the line, but you have to take care of yourself. You’ll do more good for the world taking those breaks.”

He swallowed, feeling his body tremble with exhaustion, and couldn’t find a way to protest. “So what do I do?”

She leaned forward a little more, a little laugh coming from under her mask as she said, “I’m going to treat you like a medical supply, okay? You are a limited medicine, and my team will figure out how to pass you out, okay?”

He didn’t want to agree. Steven wanted to get back on the floor, to kiss everyone he could, but he could barely move his legs without them aching and every breath stung, so he recovered and tried not to feel guilty about taking up a hospital bed in the meantime. 

Each day, he came to the hospital for a quarter shift - two hours during which Priyanka or another staff member took her around to those at highest risk, and he did his best to heal each one. When he succeeded, people thanked him and happiness puffed out his chest, and when he failed, people thanked him for trying anyway and he struggled not to cry. Spotty magic. Unreliable.

And when it failed, there was always the chance that the people he was directed to - the worst of the worst, the ones hanging onto the world by a thread - couldn’t be saved by conventional medicine. There was always the chance that their thank you was the last thing they said before they passed on.

After his shift, standing next to Priyanka in her office, he began: “How many of the people I don’t heal-?”

“Don’t ask about who dies. Don’t search for that. You heal people, Steven, and that’s the  _ only _ thing you need to focus on. Do you understand me?” Her expression was stern, and there was a slight wobble to her voice. He could feel the tension rise in the room as she said, softer this time, “We get through this by focusing on the good we do, not by searching up all the places we failed.”

He swallowed hard, his eyes burning as tears threatened to creep up on him again, and then inevitably fell. “I just don’t know if I’m doing enough.”

“You’re trying your best, just like we all are,” Priyanka whispered, and her rubber gloved hand against his own was just normal now. “It’s okay, Steven. You’re doing more than enough. Thank you.”


End file.
